Lauren Hearts Lavender Chocolate Cupcakes!

You may have noticed that the cupcake department has been somewhat quiet around here lately.  No, we are not throwing in the towel on our grand scheme of filling the year with cupcakes, but "busy" doesn't quite do justice to the last two months: running a half marathon in California, running 5ks in Washington in California-worthy weather, setting off fireworks, helping run a week long music camp, eagerly anticipating a niece or nephew's imminent arrival, enjoying time with Mikaela and Joel while they were here on a visit, finishing good books, teaching, and trying to get my life organized.  You know how it goes.

But Sunday afternoon found me in the kitchen once again, with another grand slam of a cupcake!  This one is so good that it is rivaled only by my very first foray into the world of cupcakes--my double peanut butter chocolate cupcakes.  If you observe the coincidence that both of my top favorite cupcakes involve chocolate, then you have noticed a very important trait of mine: I LOVE chocolate!

My love for chocolate is only equaled by my love for all things floral, which is why Sarah, Mikaela, and I knew we had to have an entire category dedicated to floral cupcakes.  And let me tell you what, these lavender cupcakes taste like a big mug of frothy lavender hot chocolate in cupcake form.  What could be better?

I started off with a basic gluten free chocolate cupcake recipe featuring coconut flour 

and farm-fresh eggs!

Sarah inspired me to use my favorite measuring cup set--why don't all measuring cups come in the form of a nesting matroyshka doll?  They range in size from a cup to a pinch, and I'm sure they contributed to the tastiness of this recipe!

 

 Olive oil and honey make these cupcakes moist and delicious! 

I added just one drop of Mama's Young Living Lavender essential oil, and it gave the perfect hint of lavender flavor to the cupcakes. 

Fresh out of the oven, and begging to be stuffed in my mouth!  This is the point at which I begin to doubt the necessity of frosting, but I stayed strong.

If you remember Mikaela's rave reviews of the German Buttercream frosting she made in April, you know why I decided I had to try that frosting for myself!  I started with dried lavender...the best flavoring in the world!

Simmer the lavender with milk, and let it steep for ten minutes, then inhale the lavender deliciousness.

Next comes the sunny yellow yolks, sugar, vanilla, and lots of stirring and butter.  And I'm afraid I have to agree with Mikaela: this is the best stuff in the world!  I found it thickened more quickly than hers did (perhaps because I had my burner on medium low, or perhaps because I only made one recipe.)  In any case, the ratio of difficulty to deliciousness was quite good!  

Now...get ready, set, frost! {And I promise, the frosting is more purple in person!}

Not a crumb was left behind from this beauty!

Let me know if you make these cupcakes, and what your opinion is on floral flavors in general!

Chocolate Lavender Cupcakes 

with Lavender German Buttercream Frosting

{Adapted from Elana Amsterdam's Gluten Free Cupcakes}

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

4 large eggs

1/4 olive oil or grapeseed oil

1/2 cup honey or agave nectar

1 drop food grade lavender essential oil

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line 9 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine the coconut flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, olive oil, honey, and essential oil.  Blend the wet ingredients into the coconut flour mixture with a handheld mixer until thoroughly combined.

Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into each prepared muffin cup.

Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.  Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 1 hour, then frost and serve.

Lavender German Buttercream Frosting
Adapted from The Tough Cookie

150ml milk 

1 teaspoon dried lavender

50g (or ¼ cup) granulated sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 teaspoon cornstarch 

3 egg yolks 

50g (or ¼ cup) granulated sugar 

200g (or ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

 1.  Mix milk with lavender in a medium saucepan and heat just to a simmer.  Remove from heat and allow to steep for 10 to 15 minutes, depending upon taste, and then strain the lavender from the milk.

2.  Make a simple custard. In a small saucepan, combine the milk, 50g of sugar and the vanilla. In a heatproof bowl, combine the cornstarch with a little splash of the milk mixture. Stir to a smooth paste. Add another splash of milk an stir to incorporate. Whisk in the egg yolks and sugar until frothy and well combined; set aside. Gently heat milk/sugar/vanilla mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally. Once the milk mixture has reached boiling point and bubbles start to appear around the edges of the pan, slowly drizzle the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking continuously. Once all the milk has been added, pour the mixture back into the saucepan and heat over low heat. Whisking continuously, wait until the first bubbles appear and the mixture has thickened. Pour into a clean heatproof bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Allow to cool to body temperature (set bowl in cold water to hasten cooling process). 

3.  Once the custard has cooled sufficiently, mix in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting until each tablespoon of butter is incorporated before adding the next. Use immediately or cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until needed. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week or for up to 2 months in the freezer in a freeze­proof container or bag.

4. To use buttercream that has been refrigerated, allow to come to room temperature (this takes about 3 hours in a warm kitchen) or microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between each interval, until it's soft. Then mix through until it's spreadable again. Thaw frozen buttercream in the fridge overnight, then allow to come to room temperature before use and, once at room temperature, mix briefly until smooth. 

5.  Serve at room temperature. If you've assembled a cake or decorated cupcakes, allow cake or cupcakes to come to room temperature before serving (about 3 hours in a warm kitchen). 

Cupcake Party: Chocolate Edition

Lauren's Double Peanut Butter Chocolate
Sarah's Chocolate Chunk Lava Fudge
Mikaela's Hazelnut Mocha

Cupcake Party: Savory Edition

Lauren's Spinach Feta
Mikaela's Cupcakes & Croutons 
Sarah's Carrot Ginger Coconut Muffins 

Coconut Chai Cupcakes

Life is beautiful and busy, and suddenly April has come and gone with no cupcake posting from me (we were doing tea flavors, if you recall)! Susanna visited me for two weeks (post on our adventures forthcoming!), and she pretty much whipped up this project for me. I made dinner while she made cupcakes--isn't that a nice trade-off? I loved having another woman in the kitchen with me! Not only did she make the cupcakes, but she also took pictures, and collaborated on the frosting. So, you see, I can hardly take credit for these delicious beauties, but I can certainly post them on my blog and rave about my sister's baking prowess!

Feast...joy...savor...coming as soon as these cupcakes are finished!

Cooking: a beautiful mess. The smartphone seems to be used just as much as the hard-copy cookbook these days!

Cooking: a not-so-beautiful mess

The frosting was a fun adventure! After a tip from a friend, I went and devoured (figuratively, not literally) "The Battle of the Buttercreams" in which an adventurous cook makes more buttercreams than I knew existed and tests them out in a blind taste taste with a final winner and overall scores.

Susanna and I opted to make the winning buttercream, but before we got to taste it, we had to stir...

...and stir

...and stir! It was a long process. Prepare yourself. I was ready to call it "good" several times, but Susanna kept saying that it wasn't truly bubbling yet, and we needed to keep going. She was right, of course.

And it turned out amazing. Such a silky texture with a rich, buttery flavor that simple powdered sugar and butter could never achieve. German buttercream has ruined me forever.

Oh the joy! Can we eat them yet?

Not quite--first you must have a staring contest with the cupcake.

I have it on good authority that Susanna won this staring contest. 

These cupcakes turned out incredibly moist with good coconut flavor, though I wish I could have increased the coconut flavor without resorting to artificial flavoring that didn't taste quite as good as true coconut. The tea flavor is delicate, and an excellent background for the coconut. These were also probably the easiest I've made so far (and not just because Susanna did all the work!), but the complex buttercream kept us in the kitchen for a good while. There really were no negatives to this recipe, and I'd certainly make it again!

Coconut Chai Cupcakes

Adapted from Food and Wine

Makes 1 dozen cupcakes

3/4 cup sifted coconut flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon chai tea powder (an unsweetened concentrate, such as Blue Lotus)

6 large eggs

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup coconut oil

3 tablespoons coconut milk

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons coconut flavor

1. Preheat the oven to 350º. In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, baking powder, salt, and tea powder until blended. Whisk in the eggs, honey, coconut oil, milk, vanilla, and coconut flavor until completely blended and smooth.
2.  Divide the batter equally between 12 lined muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the baking tin to a wire rack and let the cupcakes cool for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the cupcakes from the tin and place on the wire rack to cool completely.

German Buttercream

Adapted from The Tough Cookie

150ml milk 

1 bag or 2 teaspoons good quality black tea

50g (or ¼ cup) granulated sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 teaspoon cornstarch 

3 egg yolks 

50g (or ¼ cup) granulated sugar 

1/2 teaspoon coconut flavor

200g (or ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

 1.  Heat milk in the microwave and add tea (if using a bag, open the bag and empty the leaves into the milk). Allow to steep for 5 - 10 minutes, depending upon taste, and then strain the tea leaves from the milk.

2.  Make a simple custard. In a small saucepan, combine the milk, 50g of sugar and the vanilla. In a heatproof bowl, combine the cornstarch with a little splash of the milk mixture. Stir to a smooth paste. Add another splash of milk an stir to incorporate. Whisk in the egg yolks and sugar until frothy and well combined; set aside. Gently heat milk/sugar/vanilla mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally. Once the milk mixture has reached boiling point and bubbles start to appear around the edges of the pan, slowly drizzle the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking continuously. Once all the milk has been added, pour the mixture back into the saucepan and heat over low heat. Whisking continuously, wait until the first bubbles appear and the mixture has thickened. Pour into a clean heatproof bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Allow to cool to body temperature (set bowl in cold water to hasten cooling process). 

3.  Once the custard has cooled sufficiently, mix in the coconut flavor and the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting until each tablespoon of butter is incorporated before adding the next. Use immediately or cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until needed. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week or for up to 2 months in the freezer in a freeze­proof container or bag.

4. To use buttercream that has been refrigerated, allow to come to room temperature (this takes about 3 hours in a warm kitchen) or microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between each interval, until it's soft. Then mix through until it's spreadable again. Thaw frozen buttercream in the fridge overnight, then allow to come to room temperature before use and, once at room temperature, mix briefly until smooth. 

5.  Serve at room temperature. If you've assembled a cake or decorated cupcakes, allow cake or cupcakes to come to room temperature before serving (about 3 hours in a warm kitchen). 

Cupcake Party: Chocolate Edition

Lauren's Double Peanut Butter Chocolate
Sarah's Chocolate Chunk Lava Fudge
Mikaela's Hazelnut Mocha

Cupcake Party: Savory Edition

Lauren's Spinach Feta
Mikaela's Cupcakes & Croutons 
Sarah's Carrot Ginger Coconut Muffins

Cupcake Party: Tea Edition

Lauren's Green Tea Cupcakes with Peach Buttercream
Sarah's Lavender Earl Grey Cupcakes